Banking on blanket donations

SCU working with coalition to provide warmth for area residents

Southbridge Credit Union Member Services Representative Damary Correa, left, and teller Ricardo Gonzalez display the blanket drive bin. The credit union has partnered with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless to gather blankets for the homeless in January. Adam T. Silva. (click for larger version)

January 19, 2011

SOUTHBRIDGE — The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, along with the Southbridge Credit Union, have joined together to collect blankets for the homeless.

The program, which started Jan. 17, and runs until February, places donation bins at all four Southbridge Credit Union offices. The blanket drive is being run in 27 towns in Massachusetts.

"Many banks and credit unions have longstanding traditions of helping the Coalition for the Homeless," said Robin Frost, representative for the coalition. "When the Southbridge Credit Union heard that we needed blankets for our drive, they really stepped up. They started asking their members to donate new or slightly-used blankets."

The coalition started nearly 30 years ago when homelessness was steadily on the rise in both the state and country. A group of advocates in the state got together to work on long-term systematic change as well as directly helping those in need.

The coalition addresses the homeless problem on three fronts. First, they provide bridges on a short-term basis, as they help the newly homeless and at-risk relocate quickly into new housing and work with the at-risk to avoid going homeless altogether.

For more on this story, please see tomorrow's Southbridge Evening News.